I'm Just Clare
by It's Okay That We're Dying
Summary: Clare never thinks shes good enough. Will the boy who drives a hearse convince her that she is more important than she thinks? Or will he make her feel worse about herself? Also, what will Clare do when her mother says that she can't hang out with Eli?
1. This Is Me

AN: Greetings, my fellow Eclare fans. FACT: I think it's weird calling them Eclare. Because that's a type of a food. My mom used to buy them. But I've never actually had one. This is my first time writing a fanfiction story so please don't hate me, or something like that. I just think that Eli and Clare make such a cute couple, I just couldn't help myself. This story could probably turn out really bad or turn out really good. Life is a mystery. (It will probably be really bad)

I'm not really good with past and present tense. It's supposed to be in present tense but if I mess up and put past tense, sorry xD

And sorry if I made a few typos, I reread it a few times and I think everything is the way it should be. But you never know.

Please review :D It really motivates me to keep writing. Leave ideas, questions, anything. Even if you think my story sucks (probably does) let me know =P

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I'm Just Clare

Chapter One / Clare's point of view

The first day of school is always an adventure on it's own. Well let me tell you, it certainly was. Ali and I were walking into school and we spotted Jenna and K.C. They holding hands and being all cute together (Ew). I guess things went well over the summer for them. We get our schedule's and go to our lockers. My locker is in a different wing than Ali's.

I open my locker and am about to put my stuff in it when I see a boy with dark brown hair at the locker next to mine. He is wearing black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt and a grey blazer. He looks at me. I notice the color of his eyes, emerald green. He smirks when he realizes that I'm staring at him.

I roll my eyes and put my stuff in my locker. I will probably be seeing him a lot since our lockers are right next to each other. But it's not like he would like me. Why would he? I'm just Clare. Plain Clare.

My first 3 classes go okay. I'm sure that I can pass them all with no problem. I make my way to the lunchroom with Ali. We sit down at our regular table, by the window. I open my lunchbox (Please, like I'm going to eat the crap they serve here.) I take out a yogurt, an apple and a bottle of water. Ali is rambling on about someone named Drew and how he is so amazing. I'm not really paying attention because I'm more focused on the boy with green eyes, he is standing near the drink machine with a boy wearing a beanie and a baggy sweatshirt. The boy with green eyes looks around and when he sees me he smirks and walks over to our table. He sits down across from me.

"So," He says, "I never got your name."

"Uhm, it's Clare. Clare Edwards."

"Nice to meet you Clare. I'm Eli." He says lifting his eyebrows up. I smile and go back to my yogurt. Dave, Connor and Wesley walk towards us and sit down. Dave tries to start a conversation with Ali but she is too busy trying to get Drew's attention.

Eli takes my apple and starts eating it, "Hey, I was going to eat that." I say to him.

"Guess not anymore…unless you want it back?" He questions.

"Uhm, no it's fine. You eat it."

"Sweet." He says taking another bite.

I was walking to my next class, English, when I was tripped by someone, "Oh gosh Clarebear, I am soooo sorry. I did not see you there!"

I roll my eyes and got up, I was faced with Jenna, "It's fine Jenna." I say smoothing my shirt.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, I turn around. It was Eli, "Hey, I saw what happened. You okay?" He asks, picking up my books.

"Uhm yeah. Thanks…a lot." I says smiling as he hands me my stuff.

"No problem. Hey, what class are you going to? I want to walk you."

"Oh, it's fine you don't have to, really."

"I want too. So Clare, which way are we headed?"

I blush, "Err, I have English."

"Oh cool, me too. But we're probably in different classes. I'm in 11th grade advanced English."

"Uhm, that's the class I'm in."

"Ooh, so you're smart?" He stops walking and raises his eyebrows. I blush again. And continue walking. He catches up with me and we walk into class together.

I take a seat at one of the desks and Eli sits in front of me. The teacher stands at the front of the room with a cup of coffee in one hand and her glasses in the other. She takes a sip of her coffee then puts the mug on her desk. She puts on her glasses and smiles at us, "Welcome to 11th grade advanced English. I seem some familiar faces and some new faces. It will be a pleasure getting to know you guys. Since it's the first day of class, I've decided to go easy on you guys. I want you to write a rhyming poem about anything. Then partner up with someone and discuss the poems together. I'll give you guys ten minutes to write and ten minutes to discuss."

So distant,

So close

An instant,

At the most,

I'm here,

I'm waiting

In fear,

I'm shaking

The teacher announces that the ten minutes is up. I sighed. I could've written way more than that in 10 minutes, but my mind kept wandering. I look at my poem and read it in my head. I'm not really sure why I wrote it.

Eli turns around and smiles at me, "Partners?" He asks. I nod and look back down at my paper. "Do you want to go first?" He asks.

"Uhm, sure." I say.

I read my poem and when I look up he is staring at me, "That was good Clare. It seems like you put a lot of emotion in it."

"Uh, I guess I did." I say.

"What is it about?" He asks.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure."

"Oh?" He says looking confused, "Well I guess I'll read my poem."

"Okay." I say.

He looks at me, sighs and starts reading,

"Your eyes,

They shine,

So bright,

Into mine

Your heart,

Is gold,

Your smile,

I'm sold"

When he finishes reading, he grins. I smile at him, "Whoever you wrote that for must be pretty special." I hope it is about me. But why would it be? I'm just Clare. I'm not special.

He looks at me and says, "Yup." Then he turns around.

After to school I walk with Ali to The Dot. We sit down at a table and order milkshakes. "So how was your first day?" She asks. We only have one class together, gym, and we lunch together.

"It was pretty good," I say smiling, "And yours?"

"It was amazing!" She says practically jumping out her seat, "I have two classes with Drew and we talked and oh my god, it was just amazing." She says sighing dreamily at the end of her sentence.

"Right." I say.

"So what's up with you and that…punk boy? Or whatever he is." She asks.

I laugh, "You mean Eli? Nothing is going on between us. His locker is right next to mine and I guess you could call us friends."

"So nothing is going to happen?"

"Ali, it's been one day. Who knows what's going to happen?" I say as Peter gives us our milkshakes. We say our thank yous and drink our shakes. Ali got me thinking. Would anything happen between Eli and I? I'm hoping so. But I doubt it. I'm just Clare. Ordinary Clare.

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AN: Yeah so that's the first chapter. I hope you liked it. Remember, this is my first story so try not to hate me too much =P

Also, I'm terrible at writing poems. They always sound cheesy and dumb. So yes..that's all. :D


	2. I Can Be Observant

AN: I felt like I kind of rushed things in the last chapter. Sorry. I'm trying to make parts longer and more descriptive. It's been a long time since I've written a story. Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter, you guys are seriously amazing, you made me feel so special :]

I've also decided to call the English teacher Mrs. Williams because I honestly have no idea what her name is in the show, and I can't just call her 'The English teacher' the whole story.

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Chapter 2 / Clare's Point Of View

I wake up with a smile on my face. I love the start of a new day. I get up, stretch and make my way downstairs. My mom is sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. I make myself a bowl of cereal and sit down across from my mom, "Where's dad?" I ask.

"He went to work early, said something about a power outage at the office." She says, not looking up from her paper.

"Oh." I say then finish my cereal. I go upstairs, take a shower and get ready for school.

As we pull into the parking lot, a hearse pulls in front of us. My mom looks over at me, "Why in the world is there a hearse at a public high school?"

"Mom, like I would really know." I say, watching it pull into a parking space. Eli steps out of the drivers side, "Huh?"

"What?" My mom asks.

"That's Eli."

"You know that boy?" She looks over at me and arches her eyebrows.

"Uhm yeah. He's in the grade above me, he's nice." I say staring at him. He is talking to Fitz, the school bully. Suddenly, Eli punches him in the jaw.

"Yeah, he seems real nice." My mom says sarcastically.

"Mom, he really is. Fitz is a jerk. He probably deserved to get punched."

"I don't want to hear it Clare, you stay away from this Eli boy. Okay?"

"Yeah mom. Whatever." I say glaring at her. I get out of the car and walk into school. 

I open my locker and take out my books for my first period class. "Hey." Someone says to me. I look over, "Oh…hey Eli."

"How are you?" He asks smiling.

"I'm…good. Uhm, Eli. I have something to ask you."

"You found out about my heroin addiction?" He says nonchalantly.

"WHAT!" I yell.

He laughs, "Clare. It was just a joke. What were you going to ask me?"

"Oh…don't do that!" I say smacking his arm.

"Ouch Clare! That's where I made my last injection," He says with a straight face. He then rolls his eyes when he sees I'm not laughing, "I was kidding again. Now what were you going to ask me?"

"I was going to ask you why you punched Fitz this morning."

He sighs, "You saw that?"

"Yeah, and my mom did too. She said she doesn't want me hanging out with you."

"Why not?" He says frowning, "I'm a good boy."

"Apparently not to my mother."

"Well then we'll just have to prove to your mom that I am not who she thinks I am." He says, walking away

"And how do you plan to do that?" I yell after him.

"I have my ways Clare, I have my ways." He says, not turning around. 

At lunch I tell Alli what happened with Eli. I look at her, "What do you think he meant?" I say and then take a bite of my granola bar.

"I'm not sure…oh look. Here he comes." She says. I look, Eli and Adam were walking towards us.

They sit down. Eli sighs, takes my apple and takes a large bite out of it.

I glare at him, "Why don't you bring your own lunch?"

He shrugs, "I like taking yours. It's gets you all mad. You're cute when you're mad."

This causes me to blush. I look down, then I look back at Eli. He smirks when he realizes I'm blushing. Alli squeals, "Aw, you guys are just so cute!"

Nobody says anything for the next few seconds until Drew walks by. Adam grabs Drew's arm, "Mom wants you home before dinner tonight."

"Yeah yeah, I'll be there." Drew says and then goes to sit down with all the other jocks.

"Whoa, wait. You and Drew are brothers?" Alli says, her eyes widening.

"We're step-brothers, why?"  
"Oh…no reason. So Adam, do you want to help me with my History project after school?"

"We're not even the same History class…wait. I'm not even taking History yet."

"Adam. I need help with my history project…after school" She says, trying to hint that she wants to go over Adam's house to see Drew.

"Okay? Uhm…we can go to your house?" Adam says, confused. Eli laughs.

Alli rolls her eyes, "God Adam. I want to go to your house after school so I can talk to Drew without any interruptions!"

"So you're using me?"

"Yes!"

"Hmm…okay, fine."

"Really?" Alli asks, surprised that she didn't need to beg.

"Yeah, you seem like a nice and fun person. I'm tired of seeing Drew go out with girls who are either really mean or really boring."

"Oh," Alli says smiling, "great. Meet me outside after school."

I look over at Eli, "So, did you ever figure out your plan?"

"Plan?" He asks, looking confused.

"Yeah, how you're going to convince my mom that you're a 'good boy' like you said."

"Ooh. Yeah, I got that ALL figured out. Trust me."

"Okay…should I be worried?"

"No, are you?" He looks at me and arches his eyebrows.

"Very." I tell him. He just laughs and continues eating my apple. 

I was sitting in my room, at my desk doing my homework when the doorbell rings. I'm about to get the door when my mom yells, "Got it." It's probably just the neighbor or something. I go back to my homework.

A couple minutes later my mom knocks on my door, I get up and open it. She is holding a bunch of roses in one hand a card in the other, "Clare. This was left on our doorstep. The card says 'To Clare', want to know who it's from?"

"Who?" I ask, even though I think I already know.

"Eli. It's from that boy who drives a hearse. That boy who punched that other boy in the face. That boy who I told you not to talk to." She says, handing me the roses and the card.

"Mom. He is a really sweet guy. So what if he drives a hearse? And Fitz probably deserved being punched. Eli is my friend mom. You can't make me stop talking to him. I really like him. Please give him a second chance."

"Clare, I just think he is bad news. But if you must talk to him, go ahead. I'll give him a second chance."

"Really?"

"Yes Clare."

"So he can come over tomorrow?" I ask hopefully.

She pauses for a few seconds, "I guess."

"Thanks mom! He can come over after school, he can drive me home." I say closing the door.

My mom stops me, "Wait, Clare. I'm giving him a second chance. BUT, if I see him doing something he shouldn't, you are to stay away from him. Got it?"

"Yes mother." I say sighing.

"Okay, I'm going to go start dinner." She says turning around. I stand there wonder why Eli was going through all this trouble. I'm just Clare. There are plenty of other girls at Degrassi who are much more interesting than me. I sigh and finish my homework. 

The next day I walk into school with a smile on face, I couldn't wait to tell Eli the good news. When I get to my locker Eli is standing at his, listening to his iPod. When he sees me he smiles and takes off his headphones, "Hey! Did my plan work?"

"Surprisingly, it did. My mom said that she is giving you a second chance. And she said that you can come over after school." I say opening my locker and putting my stuff in my locker.

"Really? Sweet. I'll try not to let her down."

"You better not because my mom rarely gives second chances." I close my locker.

"Don't worry Clare. Everything will be fine. I'm a good boy." He says smiling.

The bell rang, signaling first period, "Good boys aren't late for class. See you at lunch." I start walking away.

"Wait Clare."

I turn around, "What?"

"Want to skip school with me?"

"Eli. If we skip, the school will tell my mom, and she'll definitely hate you."

"Eh, I guess you're right. See you at lunch." 

When I walk into gym class Alli comes running up to me, "Clare! I need to talk to you about yesterday at Adam's!"

"Why didn't you text me?"

"My mom took away my cell phone because I got home at like 11. Anyway, yesterday was amazing!"

"What happened?"

"Okay, so me and Adam walked to his house since he lives right by the school. And we sat in his room for a couple hours and pretended that we were working on a project and then Drew came home around 4. I went to the kitchen to get us some bottles of water and Drew was in there and so we flirted and it turns out he likes me! Isn't that great!"

"Wow Ali. That's awesome."

"Isn't it? I'm soooo happy. He's going to sit with us at lunch. Is that okay?"

"Alli, of course it's okay."

"Yay!" She says and we go change into our gym clothes. 

I walk into the lunchroom and like Alli said, Drew is sitting at our table, across from Adam. Dave is across from Alli, he looks pissed that Drew is sitting with us. I sit across from Eli, like always. I open my lunchbox and take out a salad and iced tea. I eat my salad and Eli stares at me. He takes my lunchbox and looks inside, he takes out my apple and smiles. I roll my eyes as he takes a bite. Of course. 

"Today class, we're going start something I think you guys will enjoy. Writers are observant of their surroundings, they pay attention to detail." Mrs. Williams says, " So this is what you guys are going to do. You're going to partner up with somebody and you're going to observe them for a week. You'll each get a notebook. And in this notebook you're going to write what your partner looks like. That doesn't mean you write that they have blonde hair and brown eyes. You have to be more descriptive than that. I know you guys can be, this is 11th grade ADVANCED English. You're going to write how they act around you, how they act around other people. You're going to analyze everything your partner does. Pay close attention because this is important for your grade. Also, you cannot tell each other what you guys have observed until next Friday, when you guys hand in these projects. Got it? Now partner up, I'll pass out papers with all the details you need to know and notebooks. Write your name and the name of your partner on the cover."

Eli turns around, "So Clare. Want to be my partner?"

"Sure Eli." I say smiling. He turns his desk around so it faces me. He opens his notebook and writes CLARE at the top of the first page. He studies me for a minute and then starts writing things down.

I copy him and write ELI at the top of my first page. Where do I begin? With his amazing eyes, or his unique style? I have a feeling that I'm going to find out a lot about Eli during this next week.

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AN: So there is chapter 2 :D.

What did you guys think? I like it more than the first chapter.

Next chapter Eli meets Clare's mom. And Clare and Eli learn A LOT about each other next chapter. I'm excited, are you guys? xD

Reviews make me smile (:


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